Dismal Angel Episode 1: Sacrifice
by AngelExposed
Summary: Rogue's isolating is concerning Kurt & when opportunity to be alone with Rogue comes up, Kurt takes it - hoping he can somehow break through her walls. However, they soon find out they're not alone in the Mansion. (Story FINISHED!) - Read & Review).
1. Chapter 1: Isolating

**Chapter 1 – Isolating**

She was draped in black and dark green mesh, and did not show bare skin at all, she hid behind thick eyeliner, and by wearing her hair over her face in an unattractive mussed fashion that did not do her unearthly beauty justice.  She sat at a table outside, trying to feign engrossment in an Anne Rice novel.

            But secretly, she'd be watching all the other people around her, all the other students of Bayville High.  She felt distanced from them, as if a barbed wire fence were between them.  She wanted to be them.

            She wanted to be the pretty blonde cheerleader in her little mini skirt, and her tiny little tanktop, waving pompoms whilst jumping in the air, flexing long, slender tan thighs, and a perfect stomach.

            She wanted to be like the trendy girl sitting on the school steps, wearing one of the latest fashions, her hair styled in the most stylish way.

            She wanted to be the girl with the in crowd, who was funny, and pretty, and had all the right things to say.

            Rogue wished she were like everyone else, yet, fought the possibility that she ever could.  She had no hope, no matter what everyone else at the Institute would tell her, she knew she was different – a mutant, with no hope.

            She felt trapped in her own body, every day new thoughts would arise as to how she would live the rest of her life with this…this…affliction.  How could she go on forever without ever being able to touch another being?  Always being afraid of touching someone else even when the thickest cotton or leather was between their skin.

            What hurt the most is that she knew – for everyone else's safety – that she could never attempt to live as them.  She could never be the sexy blonde cheerleader, she could never be the trendy girl, she couldn't even be near them – for fear of hurting them.  Even when the passed her in the hall she would recoil, afraid that they might accidentally brush against her skin and cause her mutant power to harm them.

            "Rogue!"

            Rogue came out of her daze, the loud sudden voice unsettling her, she dropped her book, her heart jumping in her chest.  "Wha—oh…Kurt…" she made a face, and looked at Kurt Wagner, he looked at her strangely, she seemed troubled.

            "I just found out that there is a surprise test coming today."

            "You've spoiled the surprise," Rogue uttered bitterly, her southern drawl seemed to emphasize her sarcasm.

            "You did not do the homework, did you?" Kurt asked, he raised an eyebrow.

            "Kurt, I couldn't give a flying catfish for science homework," she stood up, and picked up her bag from the bench she'd been sitting upon and stuffed her Anne Rice novel into it.  

            "You know, one day science might be the only thing that can control your power," Kurt pointed out to her.

            Rogue stopped, and she looked at the floor, her eyes glazed over for a minute, and it almost seemed as if tears were forming behind them.  She pulled herself together, "nothing will control my power," she remarked, rather coldly, and pulled her bag onto her shoulder.

"That's not true, new discoveries are made all the time regarding mutant abilities."

Rogue threw Kurt a hard glance, and she took a quarter out of the pocket of her skirt, and tossed it onto the table, it landed on its edge and spun.  "Here's a quarter, go call someone who cares," she muttered, and then headed off in the direction of the school, leaving him standing there alone.

Kurt stood wondering what he'd done to deserve her bad temper, but soon enough realised that she'd more or less always been so…volatile, her mood seemed to always swing constantly, moments she'd be less dismal than usual, and then she'd be in the worst moods ever – and everyone would be avoiding her for days.

            Kurt shook off the feeling he'd upset her and he wandered over to find the table where his friends were sitting, he sat beside Kitty Pride, and looked over to Scott Summers, who more or less, was the unspoken leader of the group, "Rogue is in a bad mood again."

            "She's always in a bad mood," Kitty responded, she stabbed her fork into a leaf of lettuce on her plate.  

            "I feel so bad that I can't help her," Kurt sighed.

            Jean looked at Kurt, "You feel you have a bond with her, don't you?"

            "I…guess so.  Mystique was her mother – and is my mother.  This makes us almost like brother and sister…family."

            "It's nice that you think of Rogue in that way, Kurt," Jean smiled a little.

            "Surely there must be a way to cheer Rogue up," Evan took a large swig of from his mini-carton of milk.

            "If there was, we would have thought of it by now," Kitty gave a shrug.  "I find her hard to get along with.  Sometimes she's okay, but then…I can't stand her depressive states…they're so…" Kitty fumbled for the words.

            "Depressing?" Scott asked.

            "Exactly," Kitty nodded.

            "We should help her if we can, but if it means keeping our distance when she wants us to, then we have to respect that," Jean pointed out.

            "I guess…" Kurt looked to the school, seeing Rogue disappear into the doors that led into the cafeteria, he chewed his lip, despite what Jean said, he didn't feel this was the action he should take. 

            Rogue was already sitting at the bench in Science class when Kurt arrived, he and Rogue were in the same classes – except for Drama which Kurt did not take.  Rogue didn't seem very interested in getting prepared for science class, she was too busy doodling some picture in her workbook. 

            Kurt always felt bad for Rogue in most classes.  Whenever there was a situation where the class were asked to pair up, Rogue usually ended up being alone.  No one wanted to pair up with her, her gothic image and moody attitude seemed to scare the other students away.  

            He remembered – and it always made him run cold – the day that Rogue was first put into all his classes, and their teacher asked them to find partners.  Everyone moved away from her, and she sat there alone, looking at her desk, he thought he'd seen a tear in her eye.

            And normally, he would not pair up with her either, she was far too brooding and melancholy, but when he'd seen everyone look at her and whisper, and then move away to pair up with someone else, leaving her out, he'd understood.  He'd been there, he'd had people think he was a freak, and not want to be near him either.

            Kurt grabbed two white coats from the hanger in the corner, two pairs of goggles and walked over, dropping a pair of goggles and a coat in front of her, right on her workbook.  

            Rogue did not raise her eyes from the paper, she just remained still.  Kurt acted as if nothing had happened outside at Lunch.  Kurt put his hand on her shoulder, very slowly, and very carefully, just as he'd predicted, she did flinch.  "Don't," she pleaded.  "I'll be your science partner, but I don't want you touching me.  Ever," she pulled away and put the white coat on and the goggles on. 

            Kurt watched her, so much sadness in her eyes, so much bitterness and hostility, something was going on, further than he – or perhaps even anyone else in their group of friends could understand.  "Rogue…" he sighed.

            "What?" she looked at him.

            "What is going on?" Kurt asked in a soft caring tone.

            "What's going on is I'm about to fail a science test," she looked at him.

            "You know what I mean," he folded his arms in an almost insecure way, he kept his eyes on her.

            "Whatever," Rogue adjusted her goggles a little.

            "Don't you get tired of isolating?" Kurt asked curiously.

            Rogue looked at him, "Kurt…" she looked, "I understand you're trying to do the 'right' thing by trying to 'help' me.   You can do the 'right' thing and 'help' me by keeping out of my life…period."

            Kurt sighed, perhaps breaking through Rogue's isolative nature would be harder than he thought, but somehow he decided he'd do it.


	2. Chapter 2: Opportunity

Chapter 2: Opportunity

Rogue returned home from school later than the rest of the X-Men.  She'd gone walking, trying to find some solitude to think, and to clear her head.  When she returned, she found everyone in the grand hall pulling on their jackets, she looked at them all.

            "Hi, Rogue," Kitty uttered under her breath, she fixed the collar of the denim jacket she had just pulled on.

            "Hi…" Rogue mumbled softly, and headed for the staircase without waiting to find out where everyone was going.  She had only reached the staircase when Kurt teleported into the step before her, he smiled.

            "We are going to a movie," he grinned, "are you coming with us?"

            "No thanks," Rogue moved around him and began to walk up the stairs again.

            Kurt teleported to the area in front of her again, stopping her in her tracks, he smiled.  "Come on!  It's a horror movie…you like horror movies."

            "I don't feel like a movie," Rogue remarked, she walked around him again.

            Kurt frowned, but decided it wasn't time to give up, again, he teleported into the area before her, "Please?" he asked nicely.

            Rogue looked at him, "why are you bugging me?"

            "Okay, fine, if you don't want to go to a movie, you don't have to," Kurt stopped, "but lets just hang out anyway?" he asked hopefully.

            Rogue rolled her eyes and walked around him, walking upstairs, this time, feeling sick of using his teleportation powers, he followed her, running after her, jumping in front of her again.  

            "Please?" he asked.

            "Why are you doin' this…" she looked down, finding his hand on her arm, as he'd tried to stop her from walking off, "and please don't touch me.  The last thing I need is more of your powers and more of your thoughts clouding my head."

            Kurt looked at her and sighed as she broke away from him and headed upstairs, disappearing off into her room.  

            "Kurt!  Are you coming or what?!" Kitty called from downstairs.

            Kurt teleported to where the others are, "actually, I think I'm going to stay behind, I have some things I need to do," he stated.

            Kitty seemed surprised, "but I thought you really wanted to go?"

            "It's alright, I've seen the movie before," he promised, "you go on without me."

            "Is this about Rogue?" Evan asked of Kurt, and waited for a response.

            "I think if I try hard enough I can help her," Kurt explained, "I need to try."

            "Good luck to you then," Kitty waved and was the first one to head out of the door.

            Kurt watched his friends depart, he had wanted to go, but knew there would be other movies.  Rogue was more important than a movie he'd seen before.  He decided to leave her alone for a while to get settled before he decided to bother her.  He headed for the elevator leading down into the basement and made way for the war room, knowing Hank and Logan spent most of their time down there.   As he'd predicted, Logan, Hank, and Professor Xavier were all in there, they were checking equipment, something that needed doing frequently.  

            "Hey," Kurt said cheerfully.

            "I thought you and the others were away to a movie?" Logan asked, he was fiddling with the dials of one of the computers – it was a rather large computer, with a monitor – it tracked mutants when unknown mutants used their powers.  

            "Yes, I was, but I changed my mind, I saw the movie before.  No point in wasting money," Kurt responded, he didn't want to mention his plans to help Rogue to them, he knew they'd tell him to leave Rogue to herself – at least until she felt less broody than usual.  

            "You the only one home?"

            "I think so – apart from Rogue," Kurt stated, "Where are all the New Mutants?"

            "They're on a field trip with Ororo," Hank answered, "they'll be gone until tomorrow morning," he added absently. 

            "Professor…this scanner is picking up something…" Logan stated, not knowing enough about technology to know exactly what it was, but it was beeping loudly.

            Professor Xavier wheeled over, and glanced at the monitor, he tapped on one of the keys and a Map of the US appeared up, "Right there, in Boston…a distraught Mutant, look at the power on this chart, its high." he motioned to another one of the screens.

            "Right, that's all I need to know," Logan stated, "we going?"

            "Me, you and Hank will go, Kurt and Rogue will stay here, informing the others of where we are if we have not returned or been in touch within a certain amount of time," Professor Xavier stated, "Lets go."

            Kurt looked at them, "what if something happens while you are away?"

            "Security systems are going to be activated as normal, you'll be quite safe," Hank stated.

            "Okay," Kurt nodded, and he watched as the three adults made their way off, leaving him and Rogue in the mansion – totally alone.  

            Kurt waited a while, he ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and watched fifteen minutes of a Documentary on Brainwashing during World War II that was on the Discovery Channel.  Then, finally, he headed upstairs, hoping Rogue would be in a better mood.

            He transported himself to outside her door, and tapped sharply with his knuckles, "Rogue?" he asked.

            The door opened a moment later, and Rogue looked at him, confused,  "I thought you were going to see a movie."

            "I changed my mind.  I just wanted to tell you that the Professor, Logan and Hank have left to go find a mutant in Boston – and Ororo took the New Mutants on a field trip."

            "Okay," Rogue didn't even know why these things concerned her.

            "Do you want to watch some TV with me?" Kurt asked.

            Rogue looked at the floor, "Maybe later, Kurt, I really want to be by myself for a while," she stated, she tried to be more civil to him than she had been the rest of the day.

            "Alright," he smiled, "I'm in the Rec room when you want to come down."

            "Alright," she gave a nod, when he left the room she smiled a little to herself, her mood lightening.

            Kurt returned to the Rec room, and watched the rest of the documentary on Brain Washing, and he waited, it got dark outside, but Rogue did not come downstairs.  

            He looked at his watch, and sighed, wondering when the others would be back home.  Already he felt lonely.  Kurt could not understand how Rogue could actually enjoy solitude – he didn't not even understand if she really enjoyed it at all, or if this was just a tactic of hers to keep the others safe from her powers.

            Kurt lay on the couch, his eyes on the Television, he flicked through channels absently, and finally settled on an old rerun of 'Friends'.  He felt himself drifting, his body winding down, and his eyelids growing heavy, and soon, he was sleeping.


	3. Chapter 3: Intruder

**Chapter 3: Intruder**

Kurt was unsure of how long he'd been sleeping for, but he felt something holding onto his shoulder, and shaking him violently.

            "Kurt…wake up…" he heard a familiar southern accent.

            Kurt leaned up, opening his eyes, "Wha…did I fall asleep?" he blinked, he looked at Rogue, the room was dark, the TV was still on, and a blue light shone on Rogue, giving her an almost ethereal glow. 

            "Kurt, I think we have someone in the mansion…"

            "What?" Kurt sat up, "did the alarms go off?" he yawned, and stretched.

            "No," Rogue grabbed a hold of his arm and yanked him up, "c'mon…"

            "Where are we going?" Kurt demanded of her, stumbling a little, he tripped on his own tail, and almost fell, but managed to catch his balance at the last second.

            "To the war room – to check security."

            "But it might just be one of the others coming home…"  
            "It isn't, they all left in the Van, Kurt, the van isn't here, I didn't hear the door opening, I just…"

            "You just what?"

            "I saw shadows…someone is sneaking around, Kurt…"

            "Wait," Kurt stopped her, "You saw shadows?"

            "Yes, I was in the kitchen getting a can of soda – I didn't turn the light on 'cause I knew where I was going.  Anyway, I saw a silhouette…someone is creeping around in the dark…I know it," they headed into the elevator, and Rogue hit the button to go down.  

            "Maybe it was just your imagination, maybe something passing the window…"

            "No, Kurt, I know what I saw…" Rogue looked at him, "there's someone in here…someone who got past the security…"  
            "But we have one of the most advanced security systems available, Rogue, how could someone have gotten past it?" Kurt demanded.

            "I have NO idea," Rogue stated, "someone who's really good at breaking into places could do it quite easily…" she admitted, just then, the lights in the elevator went off – and it stopped moving, they were both plunged into darkness.

            "What the…" Kurt almost swore, he grabbed on to the sides of the elevator, it shook violently with suddenly stopping.

            "I think the electricity has just been cut off…" Rogue admitted, "I can't see anything…how do we get out of here…"

            Kurt wrapped his arm around her waist and teleported them out of the elevator, and into the war room, he realised he should have done this in the first place, the war room was also in total darkness, Kurt tried the light switches, they weren't working.

            "I think there are some flashlights somewhere over here…" Rogue stated, "Kurt, you can see in the dark, can't you?"

            "Yeah, pretty well…my eyes are like a cats," he stated, he searched the darkness, "here they are," he fumbled in the dark to try and get it on, a light cut across the war room and landed upon the computers, wires had been pulled out, and the monitors and screens had been cracked.

            "Oh…my…God…" Rogue gaped, then she spun around, she saw a shadow behind Kurt, and gaped, "Kurt, there it is…"

            Kurt spun around, he saw something rush past him, it was almost too fast for him to get a grip on it.  He teleported, trying to head it off, and he got a kick in the face, and it felt like the end of some sort of pole right in the stomach, he dropped his flashlight, and the light went out.

            "Kurt?!" Rogue asked, "I can't see yo—UGH!" Rogue felt something hit her in the back of the head and she fell to the floor.

            Kurt pulled himself up, and looked for Rogue, even his eyesight couldn't pick up enough to see what was going on in the war room, whatever it was managed to even stay in the shadows of the darkness, and move with such speed and agility that would have even left Logan's head boggling in battle.

            Kurt located Rogue, and he grabbed her arm and teleported out of the war room, they ended up in the kitchen, it was the nearest room he'd figured he'd find some more flashlights.

            Rogue began to come to her senses again, "god that hurt…" she rubbed the back of her head, "did you see who it was?"

            "It was too dark…" Kurt could see clearly in the kitchen – the moon was out and there was just enough light in the room to see where he was going.  He found a drawer, and yanked it open, finding a couple of flashlights, "Here," he handed one to Rogue.  "Stay close…if we get into too much trouble, I'll need to teleport us out of here…"

            "I wonder when the others will be back…"  Rogue thought aloud.

            "Probably not too long…hopefully…" Kurt walked beside her, he felt her grab onto his arm. 

            "Maybe you should teleport us out of here right now?" Rogue asked, "I don't like the thought of fighting in the total darkness…"

            "We need to know who is here with us, Rogue…someone is here for a reason."

            "And that reason be the cherie," a voice chimed, Kurt felt something hit him hard on the head, and he fell to the floor.

            Rogue spun around and raised her flashlight, and the light cut across the darkness and found the intruder.  Gambit.  One of Magneto's lackeys.  "Gambit!" she yelled, "Why are you here!"

            "For you, of course," Gambit smirked, "Magneto has asked for you."

            "I'm not going anywhere…" Rogue folded her arms.

            Kurt rubbed the back of his head, "ow…what hit me…"

            "That stick of his," Rogue began to take her glove off.

            "Chere, you don't WANT to do that," Gambit smirked, his eyes almost seemed to glow for a moment.  Another silhouette appeared behind him, "If you won't come willingly, we're gonna have to take you by force…" he held a playing card up in the air, and it began to glow, so brightly it was lighting up the area around them – and behind him, the silhouette began to come into focus, a girl, perhaps not too much older than eighteen, with long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes, she donned a black mask, and a black leather cat suit.

            "Who's this meant to be, cat woman?" Rogue mused.

            The blonde grabbed Rogue by the collar and raised her into the air as if Rogue weighed nothing, it was apparent this young woman possessed more strength than ten men.

            Kurt looked at Gambit and the blonde, they didn't seem interested in him at all, so much they had their attention on Rogue.

            "Let me go!" Rogue kicked at the blonde's leg, to not even harm her slightly, the attractive blonde simply laughed, she grabbed onto her fists and tried to wrench her fingers from the hold she on her collar – it was beginning to choke her.

            "Is that the best you can do!?" she tossed her head backwards, "I heard you were spunky, but certainly  not a weak little girl…"

            "Carol, we best be going," Gambit stated.

            Seeing Rogue's legs hanging down, Kurt saw this as an excellent opportunity to try and teleport her out of there, he grabbed onto her leg, and in a split second, teleported – what he hadn't realised is that he would bring the blonde with them – since she'd been holding onto Rogue.

            They were now on the grounds outside the Mansion, Kurt was laying on the grass, holding onto Rogue's leg, the Blonde still holding in the air.

            Rogue screamed and grabbed a hold of the blonde's neck with two hands, trying to strangle her, it seemed no good, she didn't seem affected at all, in fact, this only prompted the blonde to jump – and they felt both amazed when she flew – Kurt kept a hard grip on Rogue's ankle, Rogue felt herself being tugged between them both, flying through the air, the blonde holding onto Rogue's collar tight as she could, Rogue felt as if she was choking.

            "Let me go!" Rogue screamed.

            The blonde flew, heading away from the direction of the Mansion still holding on strong to Rogue, and Kurt still dangling, "Rogue, fight her!" he cried up to her.

            "I can't!" Rogue gasped, finding it harder to breath.

            "You're coming with me…" she shook Rogue, trying to somehow break Kurt's grip from her, Kurt only held on stronger.

            "LET ME GO YOU BITCH!" Rogue screamed.

The blonde smirked, "The name's Miss Marvel."


	4. Chapter 4: Skirmish

Chapter 4: Skirmish

Rogue felt herself beginning to grow dizzy, the tighter Miss Marvel grasped onto her collar the more she began to lose her breath, her head was swimming and she found it hard to concentrate on what was going on around them.

            Kurt let go of Rogue's ankle, and before he even had time to drop, teleported himself, landing on Miss Marvel's back.  He straddled her waist with his legs, and wrapped his tail around her neck, put his hand over her eyes, "Let her go!"

            They twisted in the air, spinning, and soared upside down, with one hand still firmly on Rogue's collar, Miss Marvel tried to reach behind her to pull Kurt off.

            Without her eyesight, Miss Marvel could not sense which direction to head in, and was heading straight for the ground – it'd kill Kurt and Rogue to fall from such a great height, Kurt dug his fingers in her eyes, "LET HER GO!" he yelled at her.

            And she did.

            Kurt watched, in horror as Rogue began to plummet, screaming hysterically towards the ground, her hair whipping around violently, twisting in the air, as if she was trying to grab onto invisible objects to stop herself from falling.

Kurt teleported himself off of Miss Marvel's back, to where Rogue was falling, his reflexes quick enough to grab her hand, he teleported again, to a few feet above the grass.  They landed, with a hard thud on the cold grass, Rogue coughed, and leaned up.

            "Are you alright?" Kurt asked, he stood, and helped her up, already beginning to feel the dull aches of the fall, and the persistent throbbing in the back of his head where he'd been hit earlier by Gambit.  

            Miss Marvel, still temporarily blinded by Kurt's pushing hard on her eyes, dropped to the ground, hard, Kurt and Rogue could have sworn they'd felt the earth shake when she did, she lay there, unmoving for moments, finally pulling herself up, staggering from side to side.

            Rogue looked to the ground, seeing a playing card, growing brightly perched up in the grass, "Kurt, look out!" she screamed, she grabbed onto Kurt's arm and yanked him out of the way, just as the card exploded, causing earth to cascade over the immediate area, they felt small stones and hard pieces of earth pelt off of their backs as they landed on the ground to cover their heads.

            "Split up," Kurt looked at her.

            "Alright," Rogue got up, she looked around, trying to locate Gambit, she felt a kick in the back, and she rolled forward, twisting, she saw him.  He was poised, with his bo-staff, ready to force it's end into her, she rolled out of the way, kicking under his feet, disabling him momentarily, she saw him grab a lump of earth from the previous explosion from his kinetic powers, she saw the glow, and ducked out of the way as he threw the stone at her, the sound – so close – deafened her momentarily, and her ears rung.

            Miss Marvel, seeing Kurt as being closest, tried to disable him with a punch, he teleported the split second before her hand would have hit his cheek, and behind her he appeared, he kicked her in the back, and teleported to the air above her, kicking her in the face.  

            She seemed hardly to feel it.

            "You'd make this so much easier on yourself if you just stopped fighting, chere," Gambit spun his bo-staff over his head, almost as if to show off, and then took a swing at her with it.  She ducked it, and punched him in the stomach, his armour was enough to stop him from feeling her best swing.

            "I'm not going to lose a fight to the likes of you," Rogue screamed, she saw him swing again with the staff, this time, she fell onto her back just in time to avoid it, at the same time she kicked his hand, making him drop the staff, she caught it, and swung it at him.

            Kurt, meanwhile, was trying to avoid Miss Marvel, teleporting from place to place as she tried go grab him, her strength and speed was incredible, and with the power of flight, she wasn't easy to escape.

            His eyes turned towards Gambit for a split second, seeing a charged Playing card heading towards Rogue's direction, Kurt teleported himself in there, grabbing Rogue's shoulder, and out of there just as the explosion occurred, the boom shook the grounds, Kurt let go of Rogue, "distract Gambit," he whispered to her, with a smirk.

            "How?"

            "Use your imagination," Kurt placed one of his bare three-fingered hands upon Rogue's face, "use my power…" he winced, feeling that all too familiar draining sensation that always occurred when Rogue touched anyone.  He yanked his hand away quickly, "Will that last?"

            "It'll just have to," she replied, and ran off.

            Rogue rushed towards Gambit, leaping on him, pinning him to the ground by his shoulders, she frowned down at him, he looked amused.

            "Chere, I think you got a little old crush on me, now," Gambit smirked, he flipped her off of him, and pinned her down in the same way she'd had him pinned, he looked at her in the eyes, "How 'bout a kiss?"

            "You WISH," Rogue punched him in the face, he didn't seem surprised.

            "I like a feisty woman," Gambit grinned.

            "Not nearly feisty enough…" Rogue teleported out of his way.  Gambit, looking quite confused for a moment, stood up, looking around.

Kurt, who had been teleporting around trying to avoid being pummelled by Miss Marvel, seeing his opportunity, he teleported near Gambit, and waited for Miss Marvel to head for him, she flew, her fists outstretched, picking up speed, and then, just as she was almost near enough to hit Kurt, he teleported, and instead flew head on into Gambit. 

            "Rogue, use your power on her!" Kurt said, when Miss Marvel was down fleetingly.

            Rogue didn't want to have to use her powers, but the only way she'd disable the woman who was stronger than them both, was to absorb some of her power, so at least she could fight against Miss Marvel and Gambit.  Yanking off both her gloves, she climbed onto Miss Marvel's back, and she grabbed onto the parts of her face that were untouched by the mask.  

            Rogue felt her body seize up, the energy, it felt so raw and electric, it felt like being electrocuted.  And she could not let go.  Miss Marvel screamed, and struggled, jumping up into the air, and soaring high, higher, Rogue holding on for dear life, as if her hands were magnetised and Miss Marvel was metal.  She cried tears of pain, and confusion, memories rushed through her head, not of her own, she felt the knowledge of how to use powers that were not her own. 

            "Make it stop!" Rogue screamed, she pulled on her hands, but they would not let go, it was almost as if they were glued there.  She felt hot tears pouring down her face, she'd never felt so helpless in all her life.  More memories flashed before her eyes, in her head she saw Birthday parties, school dances, boyfriends, she saw Magneto, and Gambit in her mind, as if she'd known them all her life.  

            "Let go, Rogue!" Kurt yelled at her, seeing them up in the air.

            "I can't!" Rogue cried, she struggled along with Miss Marvel, memories and thoughts flashing through her head, unfamiliar things, the memories of Miss Marvel – of Carol Danvers.  

            Miss Marvel suddenly stopped fighting, and began to plummet, along with Rogue, Rogue could see the ground speeding towards them both, and she screamed, closing her eyes tightly, her head growing lighter, her body growing weaker.  She did not feel herself hit the ground, she wasn't conscious when she did.


	5. Chapter 5: Vigil

**Chapter 5: Vigil**

By the time Rogue and Miss Marvel had fallen to the ground, Gambit was gone, and Kurt was left alone to deal with the two unconscious young women.  Both were breathing, but Miss Marvel's pulse was rather weak.  Kurt looked at Rogue, unsure of why she'd held on for so long.  She'd said she couldn't let go, Kurt was unsure of why.  He sighed, and pulled Rogue up from the ground, and held her for a time, his family, the sister he'd never had – never known of.  He sat there for a time, not sure what to do for either young woman.  He was not a doctor, and both were breathing, he sat there, with Rogue in his arms for a while just cradling her carefully, careful not to let their skin touch.

            The school's van pulled up on the road near by, and four X-Men, Scott, Jean, Kitty and Evan poured out.  "Kurt!  What happened?" Jean asked frantically.

            "We had an intruders," Kurt looked up at them, "Gambit and Miss Marvel…" he gestured nearby to where Miss Marvel's unconscious body lay spread out on the grass, bathed in moonlight.  

            "Are they both alright?" Scott asked, he walked over and knelt by Miss Marvel, he took a hold of her wrist and checked her pulse, "she's still alive…" he sighed in relief.

            "Rogue used her powers on her," Kurt stated, he looked down at Rogue, Rogue's eyeliner was smeared and staining her cheeks, diluted by tears, "it must have knocked Miss Marvel clear unconscious – and Rogue…" he added sullenly.

            "Lets get them both inside…" Scott suggested.

            Kurt pulled himself up, and lifted Rogue.

            Scott pulled Miss Marvel up, carefully, one arm supporting her back, the other under her knees, "how did they get past our alarm systems?" he asked of Kurt.

            "I'm unsure…" Kurt stated, "All I know is they managed to somehow disable everything in the war room…"

            "They WHAT!?!" Scott demanded, he looked at Kurt, gaping.

            "They broke everything in there, it's going to take months to repair…" Kurt despaired, "even the Mansion's electricity is off…"

            "We'll fix it, somehow," Jean decided, "We'll get this two to the hospital wing, first.   Where are Logan and the Professor…or Beast?" she asked.

            "They went to Boston, to find another Mutant…" Kurt answered, they entered the mansion quietly, 

            "Jean, can you sense any other intruders around?" Scott asked.

            "None…" Jean looked around, "We're the only ones here…"

            Kitty walked with her arms folded insecurely, "I don't understand why they were here, what did they want?" she asked curiously.

            Kurt walked slowly, Rogue in his arms, her head tilted back, her hair  fallen back from her face, "They wanted Rogue…Magneto wanted Rogue…"

            "Just who is this Miss Marvel anyway?" Evan asked, "I've never heard of her before…"

            "I don't know…" Kurt stated, "All I know is she works for Magneto…"

            Kurt found himself an hour later, in the hospital wing, holding a silent vigil over Rogue, praying that she was alright, she looked pale, he'd never seen her look so bad – he held one of her hands, within both of his gloved hands, praying she'd be alright at least until the professor and the others returned.  At his back, he heard Kitty step into the room, holding an old paraffin lantern.

            "Is she alright?" Kitty asked, she walked over slowly.

            Kurt sighed, and grasped Rogue's hand tightly as if holding onto her would stop her from slipping away completely – for all he knew she could be near death.  "She has not moved or blinked, or even made any sound in this last hour," he sighed, "I just do not understand why she could not let go of Miss Marvel…she kept holding on, she could have killed her…"  
            "By the looks of Miss Marvel,  it looks like she nearly did," Kitty gestured to Miss Marvel, laying on the next bed.   "She even looks dead…"

            "She'd not dead, I checked her pulse ten minutes ago," Kurt responded, "don't say she's dead," he looked at her, "X-Men fight, but we don't kill people…" his eyes fell to Rogue.

            "Kurt, you look tired – why don't you get some rest…I'll watch over Rogue…" Kitty offered.

            "No…" Kurt shook his head, "I can't leave her, not now, not at least until I know she'll be alright…she's my family," he stated.

            "I tried to get in touch with the Blackbird using my communicator, but all I'm getting is static," Kitty sat on the end of the bed Rogue was lying on.

"Gambit and Miss Marvel destroyed a lot of the computers in the War Room – I know that one of the computer systems runs the network for the communicators – if that's down, we're…screwed," he sighed.

Kitty fell silent for a moment and looked at Kurt, she swore she could see tears forming in his tawny eyes, "Something wrong…?" Kitty asked.

            "This…is my fault…" Kurt took a breath, "I told her to use her powers…" a tear escaped, and disappeared into the fur on his cheek.

            "Kurt, you said yourself earlier that if Rogue hadn't used her power you guys would have never stopped her – I mean you said she could fly – and was incredibly strong…" Kitty reminded.

            "That's not the point!" Kurt yelled, then realised his tone of voice, and felt flustered for having lost his calm at Kitty.  "The point is I told her to do it – and she did, and now she's lying here and I have no idea if she'll make it through the night…"  he had a lump in his throat, he tried to swallow, it almost sounded as if he were trying not to sob.  "And just before the both of them fell she pleaded for help – and I could only stand and watch…why didn't I help her?!" He demanded, both of Kitty and of himself.

            "Kurt, you can't blame yourself for this…"

            "But it is my fault…" he closed his eyes, and lowered his head solemnly.

            Kitty stood up, she brushed her hand across Kurt's shoulder, "call me if you need me," she murmured, and then left by phasing through the floor, leaving Kurt to brood over Rogue's condition.

Scott and Jean were in the basement area trying to locate the mansion's main power source, there was a small tunnel near the hanger area they found themselves in.

            "I don't understand why Rogue is so important to Magneto – or the Brotherhood, or anyone for that matter," Scott said, he shone his flashlight back and fourth across the small tunnel, trying to find a fuse box or something that would indicate where the power had been coming from.

            "Scott, she's powerful, you've seen what the girl can do," Jean reminded him, "Remember at the concert when she began to take on all the powers and personalities of the people she'd absorbed all at once – she nearly manage to wipe us out…" Jean stopped, "here it is…I think this is the power source here," she held her flashlight up to it, there was black soot around the box, the door was hanging off, wires were melted and circuits blown, and there were little pieces of singed cardboard scattered around the area.

            "Gambit…" Scott muttered, he sighed, "How are we going to fix this mess?"

            "Don't we have a back up power source," Jean paused, "I'm sure I heard either Logan or the Professor mention something about a generator."

            "Maybe, we'd have to keep searching though," Scott grabbed her hand and led her the other way out of the tunnel.  "Have you heard anything from the professor yet?" 

            "Nothing, and I can't contact him, he must be too far out of my range…" Jean sighed, "He has no reason to believe anything is wrong back here…he wouldn't think he had to contact us so soon…"

            "I just hope he's back soon…" Jean stepped out of the end of the tunnel, still holding Scott's hand.  "I'm worried about Rogue's condition – and this other mutants condition too…I can sense something is terribly wrong…" 

            Scott stopped her, and looked at her, "what do you mean by 'terribly wrong'?" he asked, concern growing.

            "I can't explain it…" Jean admitted, "things don't always appear clearly to me, my telepathy still needs to be honed – all I have is the feeling that something IS wrong."

            Scott looked into Jean's green eyes, he could see she was worried, "Lets find this generator, then we can check on Rogue."

            "Guys!"

            Scott and Jean both felt their hearts jump in alarm when Kitty Pryde seemed to appear almost out of nowhere, she'd phased through one of the nearby walls.

            "I think I found a generator!" 


	6. Chapter 6: Sacrifice

Chapter 6: Sacrifice

After much tampering with the generator, they finally got it running, it wasn't powerful enough to supply the more important areas with power, but at least there was some light.  With a tiny bit of rewiring, the managed to direct some of the power to the War Room.  

            Evan watched as Scott was trying to repair one of the main computers, "I don't understand why we need to wire up a computer to use our comms – don't they just run on batteries?" He asked.

            "Yes, those are powered with batteries, but not much happens when the network is down…" Scott explained, "think of it like a computer hooked up to the internet – it can send signals to other computers – or other phones or beepers or communicators, but if the computer is down, then nothing happens…"

            Jean kept clicking her communicator, "I'm still getting static, Scott…"

            "I don't know WHY they can't just be normal and carry cellular phones," Kitty remarked, placing one hand on her hip.

            "When you're on the blackbird, cellular phones cause interference with a lot of the controls – you know that loud annoying noise you get if you put a cellular phone near a computer when its receiving a signal?"

            "Ew, yeah, that noise," Kitty nodded.

            "Think of that one hundred times louder…" Scott stated, "not to mention it messes with any other signals on the jet."

            Kitty sighed, "how much longer until the network is up…"

            "Not too much longer…" Scott replied.

            Jean pressed the button of her communicator again, this time it was clear, no static, "Its working!" she screamed.  "Professor Xavier," she spoke loudly into the communicator.

            The four X-men waited for a response eagerly, silence seemed to last forever, and then suddenly…

            "Receiving you, Jean," Professor Xavier's voice came through on the communicator.

            "Professor, we need you back here – urgently…" Jean stated.

            "We're on our way back…" Logan's voice came through, "Funniest thing – we headed off to trace a mutant – and ended up on a wild goose chase…the mutant signatures were picked up in Boston – and then jumped to Mexico, then to California – before we could even get NEAR any locations it vanished…"

            Scott pressed his communicator button and spoke clearly, "We've had intruders, Gambit, and a Miss Marvel – they've trashed the war room and our main electricity supply…Rogue – and one of the intruders – are unconscious."

            Professor Xavier responded, "We'll be there as soon as Possible."

            It had not taken Long for Professor Xavier, Logan and Hank to arrive back at the Mansion, but the remaining five teenagers had been sent away from the hospital area, to let the adults deal with the situation of the two unconscious young women.

Morning came to the Mansion, and they all sat in the Recreation room, waiting anxiously.  The sun had risen, and they all remained silent, pretending to distract themselves with a News Programme – when really, their only concern was about Rogue. 

Kurt sat, on the floor, hugging his knees, "I failed Rogue," he said after a time.

            Jean turned the volume down on the television, "Kurt, you can't torture yourself thinking that it's your fault…"

            Kurt ran his hand through his hair, frustrated, he looked away, "No…it is my fault…I should have been more alert, if I had been – I would have been ready to duck out of the way instead of being hit in the head – it clouded my judgement…" he looked for excuses, "No…it did not, I made a bad choice, I looked for the easy way to deal with something…I was wrong.  I should have looked for another option before I asked her to—"

            "Kurt!" Evan cried out, "stop blaming yourself.  You didn't know this would happen, you didn't know Gambit and Miss Marvel were going to break in, you had no way of knowing, you can't predict the future…even Professor Xavier can't – even Jean can't." 

            Kurt stood up, "I'm going down there to find out what is going on."

            "The professor said not to…" Kitty reminded.

            "I can't not know, I cannot sit here and NOT know," he stated, and with that, he teleported himself out of the room, and into the hallway outside of the hospital wing, he pushed the door open slowly, and looked in, "Professor?" he asked.

            Logan and Hank were apparently elsewhere, Professor Xavier sat alone, looking at Rogue.  "Come in, Kurt…" he replied.

            "Is Rogue alright?" Kurt asked, he walked over slowly.

            "Her condition is stabilising – but her thought patterns are so erratic, this worries me…" Professor Xavier looked at Kurt,  "While Miss Marvel – she has no thought patterns at all…"

            Kurt gaped, "is that possible?"

            "In the past, when Rogue has absorbed from many other mutants, her powers somehow cling onto a tiny piece of the mind of those mutants.  In the circumstances she can be almost more powerful using another Mutants powers than they are…and whether it is possible for her to have absorbed the whole mind of another mutant, I am unsure…we have never been aware of her limits – to test such limits could be dangerous, even fatal."

            "Magneto is behind all of this," Kurt clenched his fists.

            "My feelings are that we were set up to be away – the mutant signal we were trying to trace tonight was bouncing from different locations, and vanished…" Professor Xavier stated.

            "So they could get rid of you guys so me and Rogue would be left alone…?" Kurt asked.

            "It's impossible to say how they predicted that Rogue would be there, and that we would fall for the bait easily…" Professor Xavier sighed, "I feel a fool for having left you two alone without someone there…"

            Kurt  took a hold of Rogue's hand, cupped it between both of his gloved hands, "I was more foolish, I asked her to use her powers…and then couldn't help her when she asked for help…"

            "Kurt, we both had no way of knowing this would happen…" Professor Xavier touched Kurt's arm tenderly, "But one thing you are forgetting is that you were still here…you didn't leave her alone…you remained behind when the others left, and if you had not been here…she may have been abducted, or hurt…or worse…"

            Kurt shrugged, "I never looked at it that way," he said grimly.

            "You sacrificed your own plans to be here tonight, be thankful that you were here to fight for her," Professor Xavier stated.

Kurt sighed, holding Rogue's hand, and looking down at her pale face, "I didn't sacrifice enough."

(end).

Authors Note: Okay, yes, I know it's a kind of cliffhanger ending but you usually get that in the series anyway.  I'm planning another story that will be following on from this one, so watch out for that one J  If ya liked it, review it, and thanks to those who already have, the story hasn't been up long, but I am really touched to see so much positive feedback so far J


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